Otzma Yehudit votes against state budget, as coalition argues over bid to fire AG

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party voted against the 2025 state budget on Monday evening, as part of a rapidly escalating disagreement within the coalition over the future of the government’s judicial overhaul.

The various budget bills brought before the Knesset all narrowly passed their first readings despite Ben Gvir’s opposition — although coalition whip Ofir Katz (Likud) was forced to summon coalition lawmakers and senior ministers to the plenum to ensure their passage.

Despite the fact that the 68-strong coalition holds a 16-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset, the first of four budget-related bills, which raised the deficit ceiling to 4.3 percent, passed by a narrow 58-53. Ben Gvir abstained from the vote while several of his MKs voted against it.

The 2025 Budget Bill itself then squeezed through by 59-57 votes, with Ben Gvir and his MKs voting against it. Senior Likud lawmaker Yoav Gallant, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri and Noam chief Avi Maoz were all absent from the plenum during the vote.

Ben Gvir’s revolt followed the last-minute cancellation of a planned meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior coalition allies on the topic of firing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara — after which Otzma Yehudit announced that it no longer considered itself bound by coalition discipline and would begin voting independently, including on the budget law.

In its statement, the ultranationalist party criticized its coalition partners for working toward an “irresponsible” hostage deal, cutting the budget of Ben Gvir’s ministry, and failing to submit a resolution on firing Baharav-Miara for discussion at next week’s cabinet meeting.

Ben Gvir then began circulating a proposed joint statement announcing just such a vote, drawing opposition from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who earlier in the day had said that an overhaul of the judiciary ought to remain on hold until after the war.

Pushing back against Smotrich’s resistance, Ben Gvir launched a scathing attack against his former ally on the far-right, calling him a “man who talks right-wing in public, but in practice saves the attorney general from dismissal, stops judicial reform, and saves the Palestinian Authority from economic collapse.”

“We were elected to govern. There is no point in passing a state budget without firing the attorney general,” Ben Gvir said.

Speaking with the press at the Knesset following Ben Gvir’s statement, Smotrich boasted that the coalition had managed to pass the state budget framework bill and would soon pass the budget and Arrangements Bills “even without Ben Gvir and his colleagues who, unfortunately for political reasons” are voting against “a good budget that addresses all the needs of the war on the front and in the rear until victory.”

“It is a shame to undermine the coalition over nonsense,” he declared.

In response, Ben Gvir said that he would drop his objections to the budget only if Smotrich would join him in bringing a decision to fire the attorney general to the cabinet.

As long as “the government does not do the minimum on this issue, I will oppose the budget,” said Ben Gvir, who has a history of threatening his coalition partners to advance his political and policy goals.

Although government regulations say that a minister who votes against his own government’s budget can be viewed as having resigned, Prime Minister Netanyahu is unlikely to fire him, Likud sources told Hebrew media.

A wartime budget

Under the various budget bills and economic plan which passed their first readings the plenum on Monday evening, Israel’s state budget for 2025 will stand at approximately NIS 609 billion ($169 billion).

Of that, some NIS 108 billion ($30 billion) will be allocated to the defense ministry, NIS 92 billion ($25.6 billion) to the education ministry and NIS 60 billion ($16.7 billion) to the health ministry.

In all, the budget includes nearly NIS 40 billion package of tax hikes and spending cuts to try to rein in a budget deficit now running at 8.5% of GDP.

Responding to the budget’s passage, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz accused the coalition of being “busy bickering with each other” instead of taking the needs of the public into account.

“And all this is for what,” he asked. “Not to ensure a better budget for the citizens of Israel…but simply because of Ben-Gvir’s whims and the personal score he has to settle with the attorney general.”

A canceled meeting

Monday evening’s planned coalition meeting, whose cancellation sparked Ben Gvir’s row with Smotrich, was called off after several party heads backed out, given a lack of agreement on how to move forward with Baharav-Miara.

According to national broadcaster Kan, four coalition party chiefs declined to attend the gathering, which had been organized by an aide to Netanyahu and was scheduled to take place within his Knesset bureau — sparking concern that it could constitute a violation of the prime minister’s conflict of interest arrangement.

That agreement prohibits Netanyahu from involving himself in most matters pertaining to the judiciary — including many of the legislative changes his government has been advancing — due to his ongoing trial.

The aborted meeting had been set to serve as a follow-up to a previous discussion on Sunday, during which both Baharav-Miara’s ouster and the revival of the government’s contentious judicial overhaul were discussed.

According to press reports, despite significant support among coalition leaders, party leaders failed to reach final decisions on the issues on Sunday, due to an ultra-Orthodox demand that the coalition first pass legislation aimed at enshrining in law their constituents’ exemption from military service.

A growing number of coalition lawmakers and cabinet ministers have called to fire Baharav-Miara, due to their frustration with her refusal to defend various controversial and unprecedented measures the government seeks to advance, but which she has determined would be unlawful.

Reservations

However, some in the coalition have pushed back, arguing that this is not the time to make drastic changes to the judicial system, including the Attorney General’s Office.

Addressing reporters ahead of his New Hope party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset on Monday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar launched a scathing attack on Baharav-Miara, accusing her of obstructing the government from pursuing its legislative priorities.

“Almost all government legislation, all government policy, is promoted through private legislation,” he complained.

However, while he supports “legal reforms,” Sa’ar said that they must be carefully considered and carried out “wisely and responsibly,” arguing that “it’s better to go for a process of splitting the powers of this position [of the attorney general] than a process of splitting the people.”

Shortly afterward, Sa’ar announced that New Hope lawmaker Mishel Buskila had submitted a new bill to split the role of the attorney general, based on an outline formulated by Sa’ar when he previously served as justice minister.

The proposed bill would strip the attorney general of her authority over the investigation and prosecution of elected officials, which would be transferred to a committee composed of former High Court justices, a former attorney general, and an attorney appointed by the public defender’s office.

Speaking with the press ahead of his own Religious Zionism party’s faction meeting, Smotrich likewise appeared to try to put a damper on efforts to renew the hugely divisive conflict over the judiciary that tore Israeli society asunder throughout much of 2023.

Calling on Justice Minister Levin and interim Supreme Court President Isaac Amit to reach a compromise on selecting the High Court of Justice’s next chief, Smotrich argued that any significant moves ought to remain on hold until after the war.

Describing Amit as a bully attempting to impose his views on the people and their elected representatives, Smotrich declared that while the “government believes in the need to lead a fundamental reform of the judicial system, we have decided, because of the war, to set these issues aside, because, in times of war, we all need to shoulder the burden together.”

“After the war, the time will come when we can advance the reform according to the mandate we received from the public, but the right thing to do now is to reach an agreed compromise and prevent the rift and the scenes we saw before October 7,” Smotrich said.

Both Sa’ar and Smotrich were reported to have questioned the wisdom of reviving the overhaul during Sunday’s meeting, because they believe it would ultimately be overturned by the High Court.

Addressing the Knesset earlier this month, Levin appeared to indicate there was insufficient support within the cabinet to fire Baharav-Miara and called on ministers who have not yet joined the effort to “come out to the public and tell the truth.”

‘Absolute recklessness’

Responding to the push to revive the overhaul, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz denounced Levin’s “absolute recklessness,” while Opposition Leader Yair Lapid warned that if Levin does not hold a vote on the next High Court president, Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar “will do it in his place.”

Last week, the High Court of Justice ordered Levin to hold a vote in the Judicial Selection Committee for a new president of the court by January 16, a move the justice minister has resisted for over a year since such a vote with the committee’s current makeup would hand the role to Amit.

“The majority in the committee wants to elect a president to the Supreme Court, and does not need Yariv to put it to a vote. If he refuses, it has no legal validity and no practical validity and Karine will put it to a vote,” Lapid declared.

If Levin does not follow the court’s order, the committee, on which Elharrar represents the opposition, will be empowered to hold a vote without him.